The Shark Blog

For the average
fantasy hockey player, draft preparation consists of purchasing a magazine,
turning to the last page and cracking open a beer 10 minutes before draft
time.They may pull up an injury report
while they're waiting for that last guy to drop off his kids and show up 10
minutes late for the draft.For those
who put their fate entirely in the hands of the experts, you will undoubtedly
miss on a few of your picks.To provide
some context for your cheat sheet, I've taken the liberty of rating their
ratings.After finalizing my own draft
rankings (free at landsharkhockey.com), I took the liberty of pulling up the
lists for some of the major go-to sources: The Hockey News, NHL.com, and
Yahoo.Here's what they got wrong.Today, I'll deal with the over-rated players.I'll follow up tomorrow with the under-rated
misses.

OFFENSE

Corey Perry (NHL:3 / Yahoo:3 /
landsharkhockey:11)

Ryan Getzlaf (Yahoo:6 / THN:8 /
landsharkhockey:18 )

These two go
together.Either you believe last season
was a bit of an anomaly (I do), or you overdraft them both.

Nicklas Backstrom (THN:11 / landsharkhockey:19)

Unless your league
is based purely on assists, this is overreaching in the early rounds.

Jonathan Toews (NHL:12 / landsharkhockey:33)

As a Captain,
sure.As a fantasy Round 2 pick?No way.

Patrick Sharp (NHL: 18 / Yahoo:18 / THN:26 /
landsharkhockey:64)

Injury prone and
getting older.I see a major decline for
Sharp.They don't.

Patrice Bergeron (Yahoo:20 /
landsharkhockey:81)

I assume Yahoo was
looking at the faceoff stats.Otherwise,
are you serious?

David Backes (Yahoo:27 / landsharkhockey:76)

Again, Yahoo loves
their captains.This is fantasy hockey,
not the real thing.Don't reach nearly
that far for Backes.

Martin St. Louis (THN:28 / landsharkhockey:62)

He's 39 years old,
guys.

Jason Pominville (THN:38 / landsharkhockey:60)

Not a horrible reach
at 38, but you can wait a few more rounds here.

Jaromir Jagr (THN:54 / landsharkhockey:88)

He'll be sitting
there in the last round.Be patient.

DEFENSE

Mike Green (THN:4 / landsharkhockey:19)

Wow.Fourth?That would be great for the Caps and the NHL to see this revival.Won't happen.

Ryan McDonagh (Yahoo:12 / NHL:13 /
landsharkhockey:45)

Once again - real
NHL he's a stud.Fantasy?Average.

Mark Streit (THN:13 / landsharkhockey:45)

Best days are behind
him.Way behind him.13th is silly.

Mark Giordano (THN:14 / landsharkhockey:44)

I can't see him
repeating last year's magic.

Matt Niskanen (Yahoo:14 / landsharkhockey:39)

Plus-minus fluke has
Yahoo reaching crazy early for an average fantasy option you'll drop in week 3.

Jason Garrison (THN:17 / landsharkhockey:48)

I just don't
understand this one.

Brian Campbell (THN:19 / Yahoo:25 /
landsharkhockey:52)

He's still in
Florida, right?

GOALIE

Ben Bishop (THN:2 / landsharkhockey:8)

I see a big season
for big Bishop.Just not that big.

Semyon Varlamov (THN:3 / landsharkhockey:9)

He won't come close
to last season's breakout numbers again.

Corey Schneider (NHL:10 / landsharkhockey:21)

The Devils will be
bottom feeders this season, meaning Schneider won't compile enough wins, no
matter how well he plays.

Cam Ward (THN:21 / landsharkhockey:35)

I love the Canes,
but can't understand why Ward continues to get fantasy attention like this.

Ready to shake off the summer slumber and get to work on your
draft prep yet?First step: Figure out
which teams to target and which teams to avoid.Let's get to it then.

Teams to Target in 2014:

1.Colorado

The Avalanche surprised most last season, charging down the
mountain from the first puck drop to be a dominant force in the West and a
fantasy gold rush.Nobody should be
surprised to see that continue in year 2 of the Roy Regime.From MacKinnon, Duchene, Landeskog and Iginla
up front, to Barrie and Johnson on the back end, and throw in a rising
O'Reilly, the goals will flow freely in Denver this year.Get a piece of this action early and often in
your draft.

2.Pittsburgh

It seems redundant to list the Penguins as a team to target in
fantasy circles.It has been that way
since about 1984.The new front office
may be reforming the image of this squad for better Spring results, but you
still can't go wrong with Crosby, Malkin and a host of adequate complimentary
wingers to finish those passes.The addition
of Ehrhoff more than offsets the loss of Niskanen on defense, and a full season
from Letang could land him back in the Norris party.

3.Philadelphia

The Flyers took their time getting started last season, but
finished among the best in the NHL.I'll
avoid grabbing for the obligatory Giroux jokes and say that he remains a top 3
fantasy option, making Voracek and anyone else that finds their way to his line
worth drafting.The fantasy-worthy
options stretch into the third line in Philadelphia.

4.San Jose

Who cares about the playoffs, right?Just keep picking Sharks for their regular
season success and you'll be a happy drafter.

5.Los Angeles

The evil-opposite of the Sharks don't care a lick about the
regular season.Nonetheless, with 3
lines of top end offensive talent, including a slew of first and second year
speedsters, you should keep the Kings on your radar.Look for potentially monster seasons from the
likes of Kopitar, Carter and Gaborik.Doughty is due for a big fantasy campaign as well.

6.Chicago

Like LA - The Hawks like to spread it around and get the
wins.Some of their top names will be
overrated and overdrafted as they approach the back end of their career.Don't overreach for anyone on this squad, but
if the value is there come draft time, there should be about 10 Chicago players
going off the board in your draft.

7.Dallas

My surprise pick for fantasy explosion this season is coming out
of Texas.The top line may be the best
in hockey this season.The Stars have
quickly transformed to a to a resurgent powerhouse over the last several
seasons.Don't expect much from the
defense crew.

8.Tampa Bay

With two Calder runners-up last season, and strong Calder favorite
in Drouin this season, the Bolts are building a fantasy power from youth.And then there's potential MVP Stamkos.Hedman continues his slow ascent to the elite
on D.

9.Edmonton

This has to be the year Edmonton finally breaks through,
right?They could have 3 forwards in the
top 10 by the end of the year.And 2
more in the top 50.

10.Minnesota

In any other division, Minnesota would be a clear favorite to
finish first.It won't come easy, but
they will give the big 3 a run for their money.Along the way, look for some very solid fantasy options to emerge,
including the obvious (Parise, Suter, Pominville, Vanek), and the not so
obvious (Grandlund, Niederreiter, Coyle).If they could ever get a full year's work out of a goalie, one of them
may emerge as a top 5 option in net.All
around, this is a solid, rising Wild squad.

Teams to Avoid:

1.Nashville

The only coach they've ever known has moved on, leaving the team
seeking a new identity.Perhaps that is
reason to hope that this team could finally turn a history of sweet defensive
prospects into fantasy meaning.The
roster up front gives little hope for 2014 relevancy.

2.New Jersey

When your only viable fantasy option is 42, you have no viable
fantasy options.Even Schneider will
struggle to find wins.

3.Phoenix (I mean, Arizona)

Defense first.If he has a
C or W next to his name, look elsewhere.

4.Buffalo

Nothing to see here.Move
along.

5.Florida

The Panthers seem content to throw silly money at average players,
just to meet the salary floor.Many of
these guys could do well if paired with elite talent; however, given their
location, they will see their totals dive down.A handful of promising youngsters give a slight glimmer of hope on the
horizon.

We're just a couple weeks out from Labor Day, which marks the unofficial start to fantasy hockey pre-season. We've been hard at work making our preperations for delivering all the fantasy info you need to dominate your draft. Here's a rough idea of what you should expect over the coming weeks:

Offseason Recap

Quick hit through the fantasy hockey-relevant headlines you missed while vacuuming your pool this summer.

Power Rankings

To get yourself grounded, it helps to get your mind around which teams will do well this season, and which teams have entererd (or lingered in) the dreaded "rebuild mode". This is particularly critical when it comes to choosing goalies.

Goalie Rankings

Speaking of goalies, our official goalie rankings will available in about a week.

Defense Rankings

We traditionally follow that up rather quickly with our Defense picks.

Offense Rankings

Do I need an explanation?

Fantasy Breakdown

Armed with our final draftlist, you'll be prepared to configure your own (for free) right here. We'll follow that up with focused articles on: Breakout Players, Rebound candidates, Sleepers, Gambles, Busts and other clever ways of putting a label on someone who makes more money than you.

Just a couple games
left before we break for Sochi.Here are
a handful of potential free agents to consider before shutting down until
March.

OFFENSE

Gustav Nyquist (DET)

While Detroit has
struggled to find their way through key injuries, Nyquist has stepped it
up.He has 8 goals in his last 8 games,
along with 4 assists during that stretch.His ice time has steadily climbed, as he has become the go-to guy for
the Wings.

Antoine Vermette (PHO)

It's tough to get
too excited about Vermette.In 9 NHL
seasons, he has rarely emerged as a viable fantasy option.However, it's tough to ignore what's going on
this season in Phoenix.Vermette has
topped 20 goals already, and has contributed 8 tallies in the last 9 games.

Mikael Backlund (CGY)

The Flames have been
rolling for the past couple of weeks, thanks in large part to the offensive
contributions of Backlund.He has now
registered 2 points in each of the last 4 games for Calgary.

Tyler Johnson (TB)

With Stamkos
threatening a return soon, we may see a diminished role for the Tampa rookie,
but he has emerged as a serious talent over the past month.Johnson has 17 points in his last 19
contests.

DEFENSE

Tyson Barrie (COL)

It has been tough
trying to find value at the defensive position at this point in the season, but
Barrie's 5 game point streak is worth notice..

Dougie Hamilton (BOS)

Hamilton has
struggled with various injuries in his sophomore season, but is looking good
right now.He has goals in two straight
games and is being counted on in key situations for the Bruins.

We've got just a
couple weeks of fantasy action to go before falling into the Olympic
slumber.Don't miss your opportunity to
upgrade your roster and prepare your team for the final push before playoff
season creeps up.

While the wire is
typically highlighting lesser known talent, this week there are a number of
fantasy veterans who had falled off in recent years or months.Some of these veterans have turned up the
heat in recent weeks:

OFFENSE

Ryan Clowe (NJ)

The PIMs have dried
up a bit, but he's seemed to regain his old scoring touch.9 points over his last 7 games for the
Devils.

David Legwand and Mike Fisher (NAS)

The Predators have
come back from the dead offensively in January, and the two centers have been
leading the cause. Over the past 4 games, Legwand has piled up 7 points, along
with a healthy plus-minus and PIM contribution.Fisher has been even better, with 14 points
in 13 games.

Brad Richards (NYR)

Another back from
the dead?8 points in 7 games has the up
and down veteran back on the upswing.

Scott Hartnell (PHI)

Over the last month,
Hartnell has been producing at over a point-per-game.Teaming up with Schenn and Simmonds, the 2nd
line in Philly has been on fire.

Nazem Kadri (TOR)

Kadri and the Leafs
have awoken in the past week.He has 5
points in his last 3 games.

Brad Marchand (BOS)

Marchand was written
off by many for a horrid start to this season.His ice time and production have steadily crept back in recent
weeks.He has been scoring goals
consistently, talling 9 in his last 13 games.He is capable of being a top 20 fantasy option.

DEFENSE

Andrej Meszaros (PHI)

It's been a few
years since Meszaros was a significant fantasy factor.With 9 points in the last 7 games, he has my
attention.

GOALIES

Darcy Kuemper (MIN)

Trying to predict
the goalie situation in Minnesota is a bit painful right now.Backstrom has fallen out of favor.Harding's health is a mystery.In steps Kuemper to win 4 of 5 starts,
including a shutout.Not a long-term
solution, but you may be able to ride him to the Olympic break.